1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to fishing reels and, more particularly, to an improved antireverse assembly for a fishing reel.
2. Background Art
Antireverse mechanisms in fishing reels of the type having a housing with a peripheral side wall, a line carrying spool, a crank shaft that is rotatable about a first axis and a spinner head for directing line onto the spool as an incident of the crank shaft rotating about the first axis in a line retrieval or first direction are well known in the art. These antireverse mechanisms function to prevent rotation of the crank shaft about the first axis in a line pay out direction or a direction opposite the first direction.
The antireverse mechanisms can be placed in an "on" position wherein rotation of the crank shaft about the first axis in the line pay out direction is prevented and an "off" position wherein the crank shaft is free to rotate about the first axis in the line pay out direction. A rotatable actuator switch for selectively placing the antireverse mechanism in its "on" or "off" position is provided on the side wall of the fishing reel housing. The actuator switch engages an actuator and pivots the actuator arm between its "on" and "off" position as the actuator switch is pivoted.
The prior art antireverse mechanism control switches are often inconvenient to use because the reel must be moved into a position where the side housing can be viewed by a user who is typically standing behind the reel. Further, in many instances the control switch is difficult to operatively attach to the antireverse mechanism. Finally, the actuator switch in conventional reels is normally made to have a low profile so as not to be an obtrusive addition on the external surface of the reel housing. This, however, makes the actuator switch difficult to operate, often requiring the user to reach into an undercut to turn the actuator switch held between adjacent fingertips.